We were delighted to host a distinguished group of parliament directors from over 30 states, who came to a conference arranged by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. The guests toured through the exhibitions and learnt about the different aspects of Jewish history and heritage. They were guided by Beit Hatfutsot C.E.O., Dan Tadmor, and guides […]

By: Assaf Gamzou Science fiction fans and cinema lovers across the world were all holding their breath in anticipation in 2017 at the release of Blade Runner 2049. In this sequence of Ridley Scott’s master piece, we are introduced to K, a replicant who hunts down other replicants and kills them. In the near future, […]

What triggered the butterfly effect 50 years before Habiba Msika became the most famous Jewish Tunisian woman in the world, was in fact not a butterfly, but bacteria – the tuberculosis that entered the body of a poor little baby named Edgardo Mortara, born in 1851 to a Jewish family in Bologna, Italy. His Christian […]

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months” (Oscar Wilde) In this postmodern era of ours, when the concept of “truth” is undermined every single minute and dissected into numberless narratives, the building of Beit Hatfutsot is here, maliciously annoying all relativists. For five decades it […]

With the Winter Olympic Games commencing in South Korea it’s noteworthy to mention that one of the most successful Olympic sports for Jewish athletes has actually been the marquee event of the games – figure skating. In fact, at least 16 Jewish skaters throughout the generations have won Olympic medals – with the trend becoming ever […]

In 1993 General Colin Powell visited the State of Israel. Upon meeting then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir, he is said to have greeted the surprised Shamir with “mir kenen redn Yiddish!” (“We can speak Yiddish!”) Powell, the son of Jamaican immigrants who was born in Harlem and raised in the South Bronx of New York City, […]

Beit Hatfutsot – The Museum of the Jewish People mourns the passing of a lifelong friend and leader – Sam E. Bloch Z”L. Sam was one of the founders of the Museum, envisioning a central establishment bridging between Israel and global Jewish communities. Since its inception, Sam Bloch supported the Museum and established the American […]

He wore many hats: an American Sheriff and patriot; an ambassador who released hostages in Tunis; an Ashkenazi who declared himself a Portuguese; a proud Jew, and most important – the man who wished to establish a Jewish state in the U.S.A. – way before others came with the idea of a Jewish state. Who […]

Friends of Israel and Beit Hatfutsot gathered on January 9, 2018 for a memorable event launching the celebration of Israel’s 70th Anniversary and Beit Hatfutsot’s 40th Anniversary. The evening was held in conjunction with Operation Finale: The Capture and Trial of Adolf Eichmann, Beit Hatfutsot, the Mossad and the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage’s landmark exhibition on […]

In April 1959, the chamber of the Arab League Boycott of Israel submitted a demand that the Swiss watch company Ardath remove the Star of David from their logo, as it was an ancient Jewish emblem. A short while after, the Maariv newspaper delegate, Yosef “Tommy” Lapid Z”L, published an item about the British tea […]

“When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose”. Two millions Dollars was the sum an anonymous businessman gladly paid for the four pages original manuscript of the song “Like a Rolling Stone”. Indeed irony is one way to describe Bob Dylan’s career, the poet who wrote this complex beautiful poem when he was […]